Note: The rest of the story unless otherwise stated will be from a third person point of view….
Chapter 1:
It was a quiet summer day in the forest. Behind a curtain of ivy was a narrow tunnel of stone that opened up into a small piece of the world surrounded by stone. In the middle of the protected meadow sat a tower with a large window at the top, a tiny garden surrounding the skinny building next to a pond where ducks liked to play. Inside the tower that day, a small chameleon who went by the name of Tsuyu was desperately searching for a place to hide, at last choosing behind the curtain and using her quirk to blend in with the color of the drapes. Just as she grew comfortable, the wooden panes to the window were thrown open by a determined girl with a round face.
"AHA!" she cried, only to find nothing on the windowsill. An afterthought occurred that if Tsuyu had been there, she would have sent her flying by opening the window so quickly. Maybe it was for the best that she wasn't there. She looked around, quickly taking note of the colorful curtains. With a knowing smile, she turned around, appearing defeated. "Well, I guess Tsuyu isn't hiding out there…"
Tsuyu couldn't help but snicker to herself, completely missing how the girl began to silently float upwards, grabbing the rope-like hair and whipping it out to wrap around her.
"Gotcha!
Tsuyu let out a loud ribbit in surprise, making Ochaco laugh as she brought her hands together and released her quirk. They landed softly on the floor and she laughed at her friends surprise.
"That's twenty-two for me," Ochaco stated smugly. "How about twenty-three out of forty-five?"
Tsuyu set herself on the windowsill with a frown on her face. "Ribbit."
"Okay, well, what do you wanna do?" Ochaco asked. Growing excited, Tsuyu turned and used her tongue to point to down below, outside the tower. Ochaco's eyes lit up for a split second, before she came back to her senses. "Yeah, I don't think so. I like it in here and so do you."
Tsuyu turned and stuck her tongue out at Ochaco, but the round-face girl laughed it off and extended her hands to let the chameleon climb into them. "Oh come on, Tsuyu, it's not so bad in here…"
Ochaco and Tsuyu spent the next hour or so doing chores around the tower, a lot of which concerned the long long long lock of golden hair on the back of her head, mostly moving or putting it up when she swept or mopped. Sometimes she wished there was a way to stop it from growing, but she knew better than to dwell on thoughts like that. So she continued her routine, polish and wax, mope and shine up. One more sweep of the floor, and a good fifteen minutes had passed. She couldn't help but groan.
Tsuyu and Ochaco then moved to a much more fun hobby the girl had taken up: painting. She'd painted just about every space in the tower, even the ceilings and some of the floor. Sketchbooks lined the shelves in her room, ideas and designs of what to paint next with the room she had left. It was her passion, her own little escape out of the tower whenever she wanted. As she looked around to decide where she would paint, she noticed a decorative carving on top of the fireplace. She wondered how much empty wall was sitting behind it…
For the rest of the day, Ochaco moved from one activity to another. She had nothing but time these days, and had taken up several hobbies with Tsuyu to pass it. Guitar, knitting, cooking, puzzles, darts, baking, paper mache, ballet, chess, pottery, ventriloquy (it wasn't really since Tsuyu was her puppet but no one needed to know that), candle-making, sewing… the list was long. She would also keep up her fitness by working out for at least an hour each day. She discovered that the stronger she was, she stronger her quirk was. Not that she used her quirk often, but she knew the day might come when someone finally found her because of her hair, and she needed to be ready.
Plus, she didn't like getting nauseous whenever she used her quirk, and wanted to build up her weight-limit. So, every day, Ochaco would use her hair to rope climb, do jumping jacks, push-ups, anything and everything she could to make herself stronger.
Another time-consuming task she did was brush, and brush, and brush, and brush, her hair. The majority of it took a good two seconds to do, but the golden locks were always at least fifteen minutes of going through and making sure that it was kept. By the time she was done, she would grumble about the upkeep and try to think of a way to make it easier to do the next time around.
Throughout the day she'd go back to working on her new painting, one she dedicated to tomorrow night. The backdrop was a starry-night shade of blue, bit of light floating up and up while a girl with long golden hair watched from nearby. This painting, she'd already decided, was one of her favorites, and it helped her to keep her nerve in what she would ask her father when he came home. Tsuyu sensed her nervousness, she gently rubbed her cheek with her face to assure her that it was okay, that she could do it.
When the painting was finally done, Ochaco backed up to fully see it. It was perfect, and once it was dry she hid it behind the curtains so she could surprise her father with it. Turning toward the window, she looked up at the sky and smiled.
Tomorrow night, high up in the sky where only things she sent with her quirk could reach, the beautiful and mysterious lights would appear, just like they did each and every year on her birthday. They always filled her with a sense of hope and warmth, and they always made her wonder where they floated from. Who sent them up like that? What was it like where they were?
Maybe, just maybe, this year her father might let her go to find out…
Meanwhile, in the heart of the kingdom, on the roofs of the palace, three thieves carefully made their way to a stained-glass panel on the roof of the throne room, the very center of the heavily-guarded castle. The first thief was tall and skinny, dark purple marks all over his body giving him a sinister look and feel. The second thief was a petite blonde girl, her hair kept in messy buns on the sides of her head. Her golden eyes scanned the area around them, knives glimmering in the sunlight. The third thief, considerably younger than the other two, stood with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face, platinum-blonde spiky hair pointing in all directions. The blonde thief, Toga, removed a knife and carefully wedged the blade between the window pane and the roof, lifting it up and sliding it away. The tall one with purple blotches, Dabi, went to work tying a rope around the scowling thief's waist. He stayed silent while Dabi and Toga grabbed the rope, finally beginning to lower him down.
Just below them in the throne room, stood two men staring at a crown atop a red pillow, on display for all in the palace to see. The green-hair man let out a sigh, looking down at his scarred and slightly-crooked hand.
"Shouto…" he began, his voice cracking. The other man, red and white hair framing his face, took his partner's injured hand, lightly squeezing it.
"I know..." he trailed off. The two stayed silent like that for a few more minutes, before turning and walking out. Even after all of these years, they still hadn't given up on their beloved princess. That didn't mean it wasn't getting difficult to keep the faith.
As soon as the kings left the throne room, the spiky-haired thief was lowered down, stopping just above the glimmering tiara of jewels and rare metals. Just as he reached for it, one of the guards, standing no more than three feet away, let out a sneeze, sparks of electricity involuntarily running through his hands.
Feh, he thought, snickering as he grabbed the tiara.
"Hay fever?" he asked, sarcasm lacing his voice. The guard, a young man with blonde hair and a lightning-shaped black streak, turned his head, not looking.
"Yeah," he nodded, more electricity running through his arms. The sneezing was forcing his quirk into action, making his brain slow to move. After a few seconds, it dawned on the guard what was happening. "Wait…"
But it was too late. The spiky-haired thief opened his palm directly below him and released his quirk, sending explosions below and shooting him higher into the sky while the two thieves up top began rapidly pulling him up. The other guards were quickly alerted, and the chase began.
As soon as both the thief and the crown were on the roof, they moved, racing over the shingles in an effort to escape.
"Fucking finally," the spiky-hair thief grumbled before yelling. "Let's get out of here! I've seen enough this fucking early in the goddamn morning!"
"Okay okay, I can do this." Ochaco psyched herself up as she put her paint away, Tsuyu nodding along in encouragement. "This is it. This is a very big day, Tsuyu. Yep! I'm finally going to do it! I'm going to ask him."
"Uraraka!" a rough voice called, making her head shoot up with a gasp. "Let down your hair!"
"Okay," Ochaco breathed, Tsuyu giving her a look to inspire confidence. "I know, I know. Come on now, don't let him see you."
With that, Tsuyu used her quirk to blend in with the walls, watching as her best friend ran over to the open-window.
"Uraraka!" the voice called again. "I'm not getting any younger down here!"
"Coming, father!" she called, throwing her golden hair out the window and down where the man with decorative hands all over his face stood. This was another reason Ochaco worked out every day, because she was in charge of pulling her father up by her hair whenever he went out, which was nearly everyday. When Shigaraki finally made it to the window, he hopped in and began to take the hands off his body one by one, tossing them in a basket near the window.
"Welcome home, father," Ochaco greeted with a warm smile, her cheeks only slightly red from the physical work she had just completed.
"Oh, Uraraka." Shigaraki looked her over once he was done with his hands. "How you manage that every day, it looks exhausting."
"Oh, it's nothing, really." She assured, waving her hands in front of herself to assure him.
"Then why does it take so long?" he asked, chuckling at the end. "Kidding,"
"R-right," she put on a smile, hiding how it still stung how he'd said it. She knew he was only teasing… most of the time. She wouldn't let it sway her from her mission. "A-anyway, so, father, as I'm sure you know, tomorrow is a very big day—"
"Uraraka, how does my neck look?" he asked, interrupting her as he scratched. That noise Ochaco admitted drove her a tad nuts, the sound of him scratching at his neck, though she never voiced it.
"Oh, uh, it looks fine." She nodded, reassuring him. Shigaraki only nodded, turning to look in the mirror to see for himself. "A-anyway, father, as I was saying, tomorrow is—"
"Uraraka," he interrupted again, turning toward her as he felt his wrist. "father's feeling rather decayed. Sing for me a bit, then we'll talk, alright?"
"Oh! Of course, father!" she exclaimed loudly, racing to set up a chair for her father, a stool, and a brush while he sluggishly walked over and sat down while putting his gloves on. In a matter of seconds, Ochaco's hair was in his lap, brush in hand and she singing ridiculously fast.
"Flower gleam and glow
Let you power shine-"
"Wait!-" he exclaimed, but she wasn't slowing down.
"Make the clock reverse-"
"Slow down-"
"Bring back what once was mine
Heal what has been hurt
Change the fate's design-"
Seeing she wasn't stopping, Shigaraki quickly put the brush to her hair, seeing it glowing at the song. Instantly, the magic rushed through him, turning his decaying skin young once again and healing him of any ailments.
"Save what has been lost bring back what once was mine." She finished.
"Uraraka!" Shigaraki spoke harshly, but it went right over her head.
"So, father, earlier I was saying tomorrow's a pretty big day and you didn't really respond, so I'm just going to tell you, it's my birthday!" she exclaimed, jumping up in excitement. "Tada!"
Shigaraki stared at her with a bored expression, setting the brush down. "No, it can't be. I remember." He said smugly as he stood from his chair. "Your birthday was last year."
Ochaco couldn't help but laugh, but quickly sobered up. "That's the funny thing about birthdays, father; they're kind of an annual thing."
Shigaraki turned and stared at her, knowing this was leading somewhere. Under his gaze, she grew timid, but refused to back down. She began to fiddle with her hair nervously. "Father, I'm turning eighteen this year, and… I wanted to ask, uh, what I really really want for this birthday…" her voice began to turn into a mumble. "Actually what I've wanted for a few birthdays—"
"Geez Uraraka, please! Stop with the mumbling. You know how I feel about people not making themselves clear!" he practically shouted, his temper spiking and making her slightly jump. Shigaraki turned away, beginning to scratch at his neck. In the corner of the room, a very quiet ribbit made Ochaco turn around to see Tsuyu poking her head out, encouraging her to not back down, to ask.
"Aaaaah… I want to see the floating lights!"
Shigaraki stopped, turning around with a confused expression on his face.
"What?"
"O-oh, well…" Ochaco moved over to the fireplace, pulling the curtains back to reveal her painting of her watching the lights in the sky. "I was hoping that you would take me to see the floating lights."
Shigaraki blinked, dumbfounded.
"You mean the stars?" he wasn't impressed.
"Well, no…" she whipped her hair up, opening one of the panels in the tinted ceiling to reveal an older painting, one with constellations and different phases of the moon. "I've charted stars with my astronomy books, and they're always there. But these," she gestured to the first painting. "They appear every year on my birthday, father. Only on my birthday. And I can't help but feel like they're…" she trailed off for a moment, staring at the open window before turning back to Shigaraki. "meant for me… And I need to see them, father, really see them, not just from my window. In person. I have to know what they are."
"You…you want to go outside?" he asked, unbelieving as he scratched his neck. Ochaco held onto her courage and nodded her head, biting her lip nervously. Shigaraki turned, thinking. He knew eventually this day would come, where his precious flower would want to bloom and venture out into the world. He just didn't think this day would be so soon. Of course he couldn't have her going outside, not out of the tower where someone might take her. He had to keep her to himself. He just had to convince her to stay…
"Uraraka, please." He walked over to the window, she watching him closely. "Look at you, light as a feather, still so young. You know why we stay here in this tower."
"Yes, but-"
"To keep you safe." He continued before she could fully answer, closing the window. "There are people out there in the world who would take one look at you and your miraculous gift and want you for themselves. They would use you for your hair, you know that."
"But I—"
"It's a scary world out there," he reached for an apple on the table, using all five fingers to grab it and make it decay. "People with strong quirks, that use them for evil to hurt others. They wouldn't hesitate to do the same to you once they knew what your hair was capable of. Thugs, thieves, and those are just the people. Poison ivy, quicksand, snakes, the plague—"
"No," she spoke, beginning to lose her nerve.
"Yes," he answered. "There are people born with sharp teeth that could rip you to shreds in seconds, and…" he took a deep breath, calming himself. "This is upsetting me, please, let's just stop here."
"B-but father, I—"
"You're not ready," he told her. "You're young, immature, your control over your quirk is subpar at best, you're clumsy, and fragile. The world would eat you alive, and you would be gullible and naïve enough to go along with it. You're ditzy and vague. Just… please…" he trailed off. Unsure, Ochaco approached him.
"Father?"
He turned around, locking eyes with her. "Don't ever ask to leave this tower again."
Her eyes widened in shock, then slowly softened as she admitted defeat.
"Yes father…"
Seeing she was upset, he carefully gave her a gentle hug, petting the golden hair on the back of her head.
"I love you, Uraraka, you know that."
"I love you more, father." She said, defeat clear in her voice. Shigaraki liked it that way.
"I love you most." he patted her head as he let go. He gave her a teasing smile. "don't forget it, or you'll regret it. Remember, I know best."
She half-heartedly smiled, nodding as she watched him walk toward the window and put his hands back on.
"I'm heading out to get ingredients for dinner tonight. I'll be back before dark." He told her, placing the last one on his face. She quickly lowered her hair over the wall and he slid down. "I'll see you soon, flower."
"I'll… be here." She let her smile fade as he vanished out of sight, feeling the defeat climb into her chest and settle. As the tears began to fall, Tsuyu came out of hiding and did her best to comfort the poor girl while she let her emotions show. As she began to compose herself, Ochaco put on a smile and flashed it to Tsuyu. "Well, there's always next year, right?"